* Sees FY completions of 15,250 to 15,750 homes
* Expects to resume dividend during interim results in Feb
* H1 home completions up 9%
* Shares top FTSE 100 index, with read across from peers
(Adds shares, analyst comment, outlook, peers)
By Yadarisa Shabong and Priyanshi Mandhan
Jan 8 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest housebuilder Barratt
Developments raised its annual volume forecast on
Friday and said it could resume dividend payments next month,
after a rebound in demand from COVID-19 disruption drove a solid
first-half performance.
Shares in the FTSE 100 company, which operates in England,
Scotland and Wales, rose by as much as 5% in early trade, with
rivals Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey also higher.
Britain's housing market unexpectedly boomed in 2020 after
the end of coronavirus restrictions in June, as people sought
bigger houses better-suited to working from home, and to take
advantage of a temporary reduction in purchase taxes.
Construction sites have been exempt from the latest
nationwide lockdown that started this week to stem the spread of
a highly contagious virus variant.
"Nevertheless, we are mindful of the continued economic
uncertainties arising from COVID-19 and the UK's new trading
arrangement with the EU, together with the end of the stamp duty
holiday and the changes to Help to Buy," Barratt said.
Britain reached a post-Brexit trade deal with the European
Union in December.
The owner of Barratt Homes, Barratt London and David Wilson
Homes is targeting wholly-owned completions of 15,250 to 15,750
homes in its fiscal 2021, up from an earlier forecast of 14,500
and 15,000 homes.
The company said home completions, which rose 9% in the
interim, would be lower in the second half of the year.
"With lockdown effects still prevalent in Barratt's business
early in H1, the growth in volumes is even more impressive,"
said Davy Research analyst Colin Sheridan.
Barratt reported total forward sales of 13,588 homes for the
period ended Dec. 31, up from 11,885 a year earlier.
Barratt, which has yet to give details of its dividend
resumption, is set to join Persimmon, the second largest UK
homebuilder, and Bellway in restarting the payment.
Last year, it cancelled an interim dividend of 9.8 pence per
share, equating to around 100 million pounds and a special
dividend of 175 million pounds for the full year 2020.
($1 = 0.7362 pounds)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Priyanshi Mandhan in
Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M. and Barbara Lewis)